


The Meeting

by squidgie



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: comment_fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2012-05-18
Packaged: 2017-11-05 13:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/pseuds/squidgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Pre DADT repeal) Evan is caught leaving David's quarters</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clwilson2006](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clwilson2006/gifts).



> From clwilson2006's comment!fic prompt: SGA, Lorne/Parrish, "I'm not worth your career" (pre-repeal obviously). 
> 
> Additionally, written under the time constraint of my flight from LAX to PDX. Not betaed.

David wakes up, the spot next to him in bed empty for the first time in six months. 

To call what he did that night _sleep_ would have been an overstatement. Ever since the previous morning, when Evan was caught leaving David's quarters by a female physicist (whom Evan'd previously spurned advances from - multiple times), David felt his comfortable life on Atlantis - if you could call living with a military contingent and weird half-human creatures who would like nothing more than to suck the very life force from your being a comfortable life - spin out of control.

He knew what he had to do; he just wasn't ready. But he'd made his decision, and was going to stick to it. 

Forcing himself to get up, David goes through the motions of getting ready for his workday, though it wouldn't be a routine one. Once ready, he walks solemnly to his lab and sits down at his computer, opening the word processing application and starting a letter to the leadership team on Atlantis.

As soon as he hits send, forwarding the message to Elizabeth and Rodney, the blood in his veins flows bitterly cold. He gets up from his desk, fights off a momentary feeling of dizziness, and heads to the bathroom to throw up.

Forty-five minutes later, David is sitting at his desk when McKay storms into his lab. "You!" he yelps, pointing at David. Rodney snaps his fingers and David gets up, following the chief scientist as he stomps toward the control room.

Rounding the corner, David first spots Weir and Sheppard, both with quite unhappy looks on their faces. When he fully enters the room, he spots Evan, standing at what David remembers being called 'parade rest', and his heartbeat nearly doubles. He thinks he may need to throw up again.

"Doctor Parrish," Elizabeth says, her tone diplomatic. "Thank you for joining us. Please have a seat." Sheppard throws Evan a look, and he sits across the table from the botanist when Elizabeth continues, "We have a few questions-"

"Yeah, like what in the hell do you mean 'resign my position immediately, and will await transport back to Earth at the earliest convenience'?" McKay blurts. "Is there something _physically_ wrong with you, that would prevent you from doing your job?" Rodney demands.

Shaking his head, David quietly answers, "No, Doctor McKay."

"And was there something in the databurst from _six weeks ago_ that you're _just now_ figuring out is some sort of family emergency that requires you to abandon your job on Atlantis and go back to Earth?" After a beat, Rodney asks, "Or have you just lost your soft-science educated mind?"

"McKay!" and "Rodney!" Sheppard and Elizabeth exclaim at the same time, giving the chief scientist an incredulous look. 

David barely raises his head to answer again, "No, Doctor McKay."

"Then would you mind explaining to me just _what_ the everloving _fuck_ you're trying to accomplish by resigning, Doctor Parrish?"

David finally lifts his head, but focuses on Evan, locking on to his partner's eyes. "I couldn't be the reason," he says, voice barely above a whisper. A sole tear appears at the corner of his eye, and he brushes it away.

"David-" Evan says, then glances at his commanding officer. With a nod from Sheppard, Evan continues, "It's okay..."

" _No_ , it's _**not**_ okay!" David says, his voice finally at full volume. "Evan, I know how important your career is to you - to your family. And I can't be the reason you lose..." he starts. Motioning around, David finishes, "You can't lose this. _Not_ because of me."

Evan gets out of his seat and crosses to David, pulling the man up and into his arms. "It's okay," he says, rubbing David's arm comfortingly. "It really is."

The men lock gazes, Evan smiling up into David's face, though David can still see the worry hidden behind Evan's eyes. 

David pulls away, abandoning Evan and turning back to Atlantis' leadership. With a glance back at his now former partner, he says, "No. I'm sorry, I can't."

Elizabeth, Rodney, and John share a look. "Is this about Tamara Brooks?" McKay asks.

Both David and Evan nod.

"Tamara Brooks may be a mediocrely brilliant physicist," McKay says, "but I'm finding that keeping up with her _complaints_ ," and David can clearly hear the verbal quotation marks, "is more trouble than it's worth." With another look to Elizabeth, he adds, "I've reassigned her for the time being, but she will be going back on the Daedalus in two weeks."

"But what if she-" David starts.

"Seriously?" Rodney says, cutting him off. "She's being reassigned to Area 51. She won't have _time_ to follow up on anything here - much less file any types of complaints." After a beat, he adds, "Don't worry about it."

"So, I'm sorry, David. We do _not_ accept your resignation," Elizabeth says with a nod. "Thank you, gentlemen," she continues, gesturing towards the door to indicate the meeting was over.

" _Major_ ," Colonel Sheppard calls, capturing both mens attention. "I'm not asking anything, and you're not telling - but I think you two deserve some time away. Radek has 'jumper six all set up for you two, and it's stocked with supplies. Teyla's commandeered a hunting shack a few dozen clicks North of the Athosian settlement, and I don't want to see either of you for a week." 

Evan smiles as he grabs David's elbow, Sheppard adding, "Dismissed," a second later, and they escape the room.

It's not until later that night, with Evan wrapped in his arms and the full weight of the day's events filling his head, that David finally relaxes. He drops a kiss onto his partner's shoulder, and quickly follows him into slumber.


End file.
